DxOMark: iPhone 11 Front-Facing Camera 'Decent' but Misses Top 10

DxOMark this week published the results of its in-depth review of the iPhone 11's 12MP front-facing camera. The device delivered "decent performance" and achieved an overall score of 91 points, but failed to make the overall top 10.

Screenshot 2020 05 09 at 11
‌iPhone‌ 11 and ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro share the same front-facing camera specifications, so the results are similar but with a number of key differences, such as focus distance. The fixed-focus lens of ‌iPhone‌ 11 was found to focus slightly closer than the lens on the iPhone 11 Pro Max, which resulted in subjects that are further away being out of focus. Another difference was that ‌iPhone‌ 11 failed to maintain sharpness as well as ‌iPhone 11 Pro Max‌ as the subject moved further away from the camera. Otherwise, most images taken with the two devices were extremely similar.

Video on the ‌iPhone‌ 11 front-facing camera was, however, found to be "slightly better" in color accuracy and noise-management than Apple's top-end smartphone. This advantage is, however, diminished by the focus issues, which are said to pose a potential problem for "users who work with longer selfie sticks or who shoot a lot of group selfies". The review concludes that ‌iPhone‌ 11 offers a "good option for selfie video capture, but not among the best we have seen."

The ‌iPhone‌ 11's overall DxOMark score of 91 was just one point lower than that of the ‌iPhone 11 Pro Max‌ at 92. The Huawei P40 Pro has performed best in DxOMark testing, with a score of 103. ‌iPhone‌ 11's front-facing camera is surpassed by 12 other smartphones. Overall, ‌iPhone‌ 11 is praised as "a capable option for selfie shooters, with its front camera delivering nice colors and good exposure in most situations," but "image output can be quite noisy and the fixed-focus lens, which is geared towards closer focusing distances."

DxO is a well-known French image lab that is noted for its attempts at assigning objective scores of smartphone camera quality, although they have been subject to some criticism from those who argue that camera quality is inherently subjective and thus can't be quantified with a score.

Tag: DxOMark
Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. iPhone 17 Pro's alleged design via Front Page Tech Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone...
iCloud General Feature Redux

iPhone Users Who Pay for iCloud Storage Receive a New Perk

Thursday March 20, 2025 12:01 am PDT by
If you pay for iCloud storage on your iPhone, Apple has a new perk for you, at no additional cost. The new perk is the ability to create invitations in the Apple Invites app for the iPhone, which launched in the App Store last month. In the Apple Invites app, iCloud+ subscribers can create invitations for any occasion, such as birthday parties, graduations, baby showers, and more. Anyone ...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock

iOS 19 Coming in June With These New Features

Thursday March 20, 2025 2:04 pm PDT by
While the first iOS 19 beta is still more than two months away, there are already plenty of rumors about the upcoming software update. Below, we recap the key iOS 19 rumors so far. visionOS-Like Design In January, the YouTube channel Front Page Tech revealed a redesigned Camera app that is allegedly planned for iOS 19. According to Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser, the Camera app...
iOS 18

Top 5 New Features Coming in iOS 18.4

Friday March 21, 2025 3:26 pm PDT by
We're not getting new Siri Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18.4 as expected, but the upcoming update does have quite a few new additions that will be worth upgrading for. We've rounded up the five best features to look forward to, and if you're not running the beta, you can expect to get access to these in early April. Priority Notifications If you have an iPhone or iPad that supports...
Generic iOS 18

Apple Seeds iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 Release Candidate With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music and More

Monday March 24, 2025 10:07 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after Apple released the fourth betas. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. With iOS 18.4, Apple is adding the Priority Notifications...
airpods max 2024 colors

Don't Buy Into Apple's Hype About AirPods Max Gaining Lossless Audio

Monday March 24, 2025 4:24 pm PDT by
Apple today announced that AirPods Max with a USB-C port will be gaining support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio with a firmware update next month, alongside the release of iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS 15.4. For context, audio files are typically compressed to keep file sizes smaller. There are lossy compression standards like MP3, and Apple's own Advanced Audio Codec...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Iridescent Search

Foldable iPhone Expected to Launch Next Year, Costing Around $2,000

Monday March 24, 2025 3:43 am PDT by
Apple will launch its long-rumored foldable iPhone next year with a ~$2,000 premium price tag attached, expects well-connected Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman. Gurman's comments on Apple's launch plans for its first foldable device appeared in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter. Earlier this month, the reporter said Apple's foldable iPhone could be arriving "as early as 2026,"...

Top Rated Comments

MacFan782040 Avatar
64 months ago
On a similar note, the fact that 2020 MacBooks ship with a 720p camera is embarrassing.
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
itsmilo Avatar
64 months ago

Who really cares about these scores they don’t mean nothing
so they mean everything?
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kylo83 Avatar
64 months ago
Who really cares about these scores they don’t mean anything, companies pay them to score, none of their scores mean anything to me
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
64 months ago

Front facing camera has always been a low priority on iPhones and for good reason. Personally I've never used it on any iPhone I've had.
Low priority based on what? They even have ads that highlight the tech of the camera. Adding 4K/60fps video capability to the camera definitely doesn't indicate it's low priority.

Honest question, is the MacBook camera really that bad comparatively? When I participate in video calls, the camera on my 2015 MacBook Air always looks a lot better than most (if not all) Windows laptops...
I realize this is anecdotal, so do truly good laptop cameras exist?
Mac cameras aren't garbage, but there's no excuse for them being as average as they have been for a long time. If other windows and chromebooks can do better, there's no reason Apple can't. I don't think laptop cameras are going to get as good as phone cameras (no room), but they don't have to be as average as they are either.
Here's a good look at what I'm yammering about:
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
now i see it Avatar
64 months ago
Front facing camera has always been a low priority on iPhones and for good reason. Personally I've never used it on any iPhone I've had.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BF1M Avatar
64 months ago
The phone has been out for 8 months now....
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)